– Roy Halladay returns from the disabled list to face the Rays for the
first time this season. He’s won seven in a row since his only loss of
the year on April 21, but the Rays have often challenged him. He went
just 2-3 with a 4.11 ERA against Tampa Bay last year, leaving him 11-7
in his career against a team that’s typically resided in the cellar.
Jeff Niemann will oppose Halladay. The Rays have scored at least eight
runs in eight of his last nine starts.

- The AL West’s top two teams will face off for the second time this
season, with the Angels again playing in Texas. They were swept in
Arlington back in May, but they’re playing far better baseball now, as
they finished with a MLB-best 14-4 record during interleague play. Sean
O’Sullivan and Vicente Padilla are the scheduled starters.

- Colorado’s Ubaldo Jimenez actually entered this season 4-0 against
the Dodgers in his career, but he’s gone 0-3 with a 10.20 ERA against
the NL West leaders in 2009. In his other 12 starts this season, he’s
6-4 with a 2.66 ERA. Jimenez will face L.A. for a fourth time tonight
and a second time with the Dodgers minus Manny Ramirez. The Dodgers
will use Randy Wolf, who is 0-2 with a 5.74 ERA in June after pitching
extremely well during the first two months.

Game of the Night

San Francisco vs. St. Louis – Tim Lincecum will have to go through
Albert Pujols as he attempts to earn his ninth victory. The 25-year-old
has won all three of his previous starts against the Giants, allowing
five runs over 19 innings in the process. Pujols is 2-for-5 with a walk
and two strikeouts against him. The Cardinals will throw Brad Thompson,
who has gone 2-2 with a 4.61 ERA in five starts since joining the
rotation. A solid week would help his case for keeping the spot over
Todd Wellemeyer when Kyle Lohse returns.